The saga continues. I’ve already blogged about part 1 and part 2.
The van has been repaired and is back on the road, but I’m still down the £250 excess, and I’ll lose my no-claims bonus unless I can find the registration number of the Post Office van that did the damage. As I haven’t claimed for a very long time, and in fact have only ever had one accident, when a driver pulled out in front of me from the parking bay of the police station in Aviemore many years ago, this no claims is probably considerable.
The driver of the Post Office van which did the damage did not leave their name and address, or registration number, with the witness. Then I read at the Citizens Advice Bureau website that, when there’s been an accident:
The driver must then give their name and address, the name and address of the owner of the vehicle (if the driver is not the owner), and the registration number of the vehicle.
The driver may also have to report the accident to a police officer or at a police station, in person, as soon as practicable and in any case within 24 hours. This duty arises whenever the driver has not given their name and address at the scene of the accident, whether or not they were asked to do so.
So, I went to the local Police Station and asked a very helpful lady there whether the accident had been reported to them by the driver of the Post Office van. It hadn’t. “Ah,” I said, “then that was a crime.” She agreed, and took down the full details. Then she said that she would show it to a police officer, who may, or may not, get back to me.
She also gave me a police incident number. This police incident number goes with the incident number from the Royal Mail Accident Management Centre, the incident number for the repair, the incident number from the Claims people, the Claims people’s reference number, the number that the broker gave me to quote when contacting the legal expenses people, and the legal expenses people’s incident number.
If nothing else, I at least now have an impressive collection of numbers.
Roddy Macleod's Blog 
Thanks for reminding me why I got rid of my car.
On the plus side, nobody was injured. It all balances up.
My wallet has been injured!
Yes that’s the minus side.
If all else fails, you could always balance things up by crashing your car into a pillar box. That would cost them.
Throw a brick the next time you see a postman! Better still, lie in wait and jump out and hit one with your big lollipop stick! Hotboy
Also, write to the post office and tell them you’re a famous blogger who will blog them into submission if they don’t give you all the dosh you richly deserve. Hotboy p.s. This advice is charged at my friendly rate of £20
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